First a quick 2016 year in review: It sucked. Never mind that my childhood hero died. Closer to home, our remaining two household cats died, I lost a job I loved and had devoted myself to for the last four years, and America elected a misogynistic, pathological liar and serial antagonist as its next president, sending me into utter, absolute fear for the future of our nation. And people wonder why I didn’t bother to send out holiday cards this year.
So let’s move onto 2017, shall we?
I actually hate new year’s resolutions. But they seem to be a thing to do, and unlike most other years, the new year does actually likely mean a new beginning that I hope to share more information about soon.
Professionally, I have one goal that is long overdue:
that’s my big #NewYearsResolution for 2017: implementing more unit, integration, and regression testing policies in my organization.
— Tracy Rotton (@taupecat) December 28, 2016
Seriously, not enough developers are doing this, and we all should be. So wherever I end up in 2017, expect this to become the law of the land. 😉
And of course, I have a personal resolution as well. Being laid off from RP3 hit me hard, particularly because so much of my personal identity was wrapped up in my job. After four years of being absolutely dedicated to “the cause,” being let go ripped me to my core in a way that I haven’t quite gotten over, nearly two months later.
So in 2017, I’m not going to let that happen again. Wherever I end up, I’m going to take more care to separate my identity from my job and do a better job remembering that it’s not where we work that defines us, but how we live our lives, raise our families, and contribute to society that does.
A couple of other things: I need to learn JavaScript. Like really learn it, not just muddle my way through it. And maybe I’ll watch less Simpsons on FXX. Don’t hold me to that one, though.
Whatever you resolve (or don’t! that’s good too), may 2017 bring a better year than 2016 was for many people.
Oh, and…